Cannes 2022 will see a host of Indian celebrities in attendance. With Akshay Kumar and AR Rahman scheduled to walk the red carpet, and Deepika Padukone on the jury, Bollywood is set to make its presence known at the film festival. On a similar theme, we’ve compiled a list of five Indian movies that will be showcased in the ‘Goes to Cannes’ Section. 

1) Baghjan (Assamese, Moran)

The 75-minute long, dual-language film directed by Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia tells the story of villagers who were affected by the explosion at the Baghjan oil field in the Tinsukia district of Guwhati. The movie was shot in real locations and it features those affected by the tragedy.  

2) Bailadila (Hindi, Chhattisgarhi)

Set in the town of the same name, the movie was described by director, Shailendra Sahu as “a fictionalised version of my memories,” further adding, “We had no budget for the film. My friends have acted and worked as crew for free. I told them when I earn money from this film, I’ll pay them first”. Cannes 2022 marks the director’s film festival debut. The Jamia Millia Islamia alumnus added, “aur Cannes toh hamare jaise filmmakers ke liye Mecca Medina hai. I plan to meet sales agents, distributors, and festival programmers so that we can take the film to eastern European film festivals”.

3) Shivamma (Kannada)

The indie film circuit has been talking about Jai Shankar’s Shivamma ever since it was announced as one of the winners of the WIP Lab 2021. The Kannada movie revolves around Shivamma, our lead protagonist, who invests her money in a huge network of marketing businesses, by putting her daughter’s marriage at stake. Shankar describes the movie as, “80% of the film is based on real-life incidents woven into a fictional story. We cast non-professional actors in the film as we wanted to be authentic”.

4) Ek Jagah Apni (Hindi)

Directed by the duo Rinchin and Maheen Mirza, who is part of a group called Ektara Collective, the movie deals with two transwomen and their struggle to find a house. The leads, Laila and Roshni, are played by real-life transsexuals, and it marks their acting debut. While speaking to Entertainment Times, the director duo confirmed that the story was written based on the experience and discrimination the transsexual community faces. 

5) Follower (Hindi-Kannada-Marathi-Dakhani)

The multi-language movie directed by Harshad Nalawade is about a journalist who lives in Belgaum, Karnataka and covers the conflict between two communities. The partially crowdfunded film also features an interesting gimmick. As per Nalawade, “For the international viewer, there is no difference between Marathi and Hindi, so we came up with the solution of separate colours for subtitles for each language. We got objective feedback from mentors and it helped in shaping the film”.

(Feature Image credits: PTI, Cannes Film Festival)